Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wuarchive!texbell!vector!telecom-gateway From: kenr@bbn.com (Ken Rossen) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Memories of SxS Message-ID: Date: 11 Sep 89 22:01:23 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Reply-To: Ken Rossen Organization: Don't Push Snow Over Here Lines: 32 Approved: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 368, message 4 of 11 In article jsol@bu-it.bu.edu writes: >I believe (203-684) Stafford Springs, CT is still a SxS exchange, as is >Orange, MA (508-544), but the number is definitely getting smaller. I think Orange, like Athol (508/249) is a crossbar, tho' I could be wrong. But in the (still relatively rural) area of Massachusetts between Worcester and the Quabbin and stretching all the way from the CT to NH lines, SxSs are the exception, rather than the rule. They all have five-digit dialing, and many (as in my town) will accept four digits within the exchange. They all have their quirks, but the one I find most annoying is that the limited number of long-distance circuits results in a busy upon dialing "1", the limited number of circuits to each neighboring town can result in busy after the first two [disambiguating] digits, etc. This makes it fairly important to listen to the progress of your dialing, which is impractical with a dialing modem, or with a phone which (like most pulse/tone switchable phones in pulse mode) blocks out the noise while dialing is in progress. In general, New England Telephone seems to have made better progress migrating New Hampshire to ESS than Massachusetts; remaining SxSs in the southern half of NH tend to be privately-, even family-owned (as in Chichester). They're saying all-electronic by 1992, but many of the towns in Worcester County and much of 413 has yet to be done. I only know of one SxS conversion in Mass. in my four years in New England, and that's Pepperell (508/433, I'm sure there are a few others). Not exactly a breakneck pace. -- KENR@BBN.COM